Bellbottom Baby

Product Notes

The hills and valleys of Western New Jersey are bucolic, quiet, isolated, and refreshingly remote from trends. It's a forty-five minute straight shot on Interstate 80 to the hipster capital of America, but Manhattan Island might as well be on the moon for all the cultural influence it exerts over the Delaware Valley. Here, pretensions count for little, and connections count for less: what matters isn't who you know, but whether or not you can tear it up on your instrument, make a connection with the crowd and your bandmates. Here, in roadhouses, small clubs, in basements, at private all-night parties, pretenders need not apply. Western New Jersey asks for real musicians - entertainers who can go all night and well into the morning, pushing themselves and their listeners into states of delirium, each higher and more ecstatic than the last. Straight Dope Cherry is a band that will always answer the bell. They've got the skills, they've got the stamina, and they're building a reputation for elastic and often transcendent performances. Principals Craig Sorensen (vocals, guitar) and Ronnie Grana (vocals, electric piano, guitar, organ, harmonica) have been satisfying West Jersey audiences for several years now: and recently, they've been knocking them dead in Manhattan, too. Unafraid to stretch out, experiment, and explore the full dimensions of their sound, Straight Dope Cherry draws their inspiration from classic acid rock, psych music, well-disciplined jam bands, and traditional sixties pop. The rhythm section of Al Perdono (drums, vocals) and Rick Ackerman (bass, vocals) are expert stylists and true students of rock history - they can pound away at riffs, stop on a dime, boogie, and then turn and lock in with the lead guitars with unerring precision. For Bellbottom Baby, their second album, the group traveled to Nashville, locked themselves in the studio for eleven straight days, and emerged with a smoking set of surprisingly infectious blues-rock anthems, near-prog full band workouts, and catchy, radio-ready traditionalist pop. Sounding like a rock treasure trove unearthed from the mid-Seventies, the set spotlights both Straight Dope Cherry's technique and the group's vocal harmonies. Sorensen and Grana - whose previous collaboration, Winegrog, was a guitar showcase.

Credits

The hills and valleys of Western New Jersey are bucolic, quiet, isolated, and refreshingly remote from trends. It's a forty-five minute straight shot on Interstate 80 to the hipster capital of America, but Manhattan Island might as well be on the moon for all the cultural influence it exerts over the Delaware Valley. Here, pretensions count for little, and connections count for less: what matters isn't who you know, but whether or not you can tear it up on your instrument, make a connection with the crowd and your bandmates. Here, in roadhouses, small clubs, in basements, at private all-night parties, pretenders need not apply. Western New Jersey asks for real musicians - entertainers who can go all night and well into the morning, pushing themselves and their listeners into states of delirium, each higher and more ecstatic than the last. Straight Dope Cherry is a band that will always answer the bell. They've got the skills, they've got the stamina, and they're building a reputation for elastic and often transcendent performances. Principals Craig Sorensen (vocals, guitar) and Ronnie Grana (vocals, electric piano, guitar, organ, harmonica) have been satisfying West Jersey audiences for several years now: and recently, they've been knocking them dead in Manhattan, too. Unafraid to stretch out, experiment, and explore the full dimensions of their sound, Straight Dope Cherry draws their inspiration from classic acid rock, psych music, well-disciplined jam bands, and traditional sixties pop. The rhythm section of Al Perdono (drums, vocals) and Rick Ackerman (bass, vocals) are expert stylists and true students of rock history - they can pound away at riffs, stop on a dime, boogie, and then turn and lock in with the lead guitars with unerring precision. For Bellbottom Baby, their second album, the group traveled to Nashville, locked themselves in the studio for eleven straight days, and emerged with a smoking set of surprisingly infectious blues-rock anthems, near-prog full band workouts, and catchy, radio-ready traditionalist pop. Sounding like a rock treasure trove unearthed from the mid-Seventies, the set spotlights both Straight Dope Cherry's technique and the group's vocal harmonies. Sorensen and Grana - whose previous collaboration, Winegrog, was a guitar showcase.